Friday, December 26, 2014

New Review: Kaki Warner’s MIRACLE IN NEW HOPE – Christmas in the Rockies with a Mystery and a Twist


Set in 1871, this is the story of Daniel Hobart, a furniture maker who escapes from the South to the Rockies to heal from the death of his wife and young son at the end of the Civil War. Since October he has been building a dollhouse for reasons unknown even to him. Just as he’s finished, he goes to town and gets caught in an avalanche. Buried under snow, he hears a child crying. When he’s rescued, he asks about the child he heard but he’s told there was no child. Back at his cabin, he hears the same child, this time seeing the young girl asking if he’s going to come for her—a girl who mysteriously disappears.

When Daniel learns that the beautiful young widow Lacy Ellis lost a young daughter a year ago who fits the description of the girl who appeared to him, Daniel goes looking for the child. He thinks she may have been taken with a wagon train moving west. Lacy decides to go with him, believing this may be one last chance to find her daughter. Along the way, much happens as Daniel solves the mystery and he and Lacy fall in love.

This is a well-written story that will capture you from the beginning. It definitely has elements that take it into the supernatural but they seem to fit. Warner depicts the West with the knowledge of one who has lived there and she brings the snow-laden Christmas season to the reader with enough realism to have you reaching for a sweater. Daniel is a very worthy, yet wounded hero. The ending is heartwarming.

A great holiday read--and as a novella, a short one. I recommend it.

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